Quote Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve View Post
It is. I again keep harping on it, I think it's Starkville. I don't think it's NIL, Lemonis, Parker, Gautreau, etc. They may play a part in it, but players will still go play for bad teams. Hell TCU went 33-21 last year and didn't even make the tournament. But Ft. Worth is lot more desirable than Starkville if the NIL is around the same. I mean just take Ft. Worth for example. If players come on a visit, you have The Stockyards, downtown Ft. Worth, and Dallas 30 minutes away. When they come visit Starkville, they have 3 bars, 9 Mexican restaurants, a dead campus, and Birmingham 2 hours away.

And btw, this is coming from someone who loves Starkville and loves Mississippi St. But we have to change perception. Far too long the perception of Starkville is quiet college town and no one ever tried to deny it. We have to start growing the Cotton District, downtown, attracting businesses, and for the love of God.....START RECRUITING OUT OF STATE STUDENTS.
I think Starkville is the least of those. I think NIL took a hit this year with football taking more (I'm ok with that). I also think Lemonis isn't very good but this was a Parker recruit so I agree, we probably try to stay in the same NIL ballpark as other schools when we need to offer more, but don't have it this time.